Snowmelt and Frozen Soil [Based on Class Notes by Erin Brooks and the Text by Dingman (2002)]

BSYSE 456/556 Lecture 4 Snowmelt and Frozen Soil [Based on class notes by Erin Brooks and the text by Dingman (2002)] I. Snow Hydrology Terms Precipitation: the depth of rainfall plus the water equivalent of snow, sleet, and hail falling during a given storm or measurement period Snowfall: the incremental depth of snow and other forms of solid precipitation accumulating on the surface during a given storm or measurement period Snowcover/snowpack: the entire accumulated snow on the ground at a time of measurement Snowmelt: the amount of liquid water produced by melting that leaves the snowpack during a given time period Occurrence Globally, all the land above 40E N latitude has a seasonal snow cover of significant duration, and snowfall contributes more than rainfall to runoff in many areas. In the Colorado Rockies about 90% of the yearly water supply is derived from snowfall. In the Bitterroot Mountains, approximately 50% and 70% of total yearly precipitation falls as snow at an elevation of 5,000- and 7,000 ft, respectively. In the Moscow–Pullman area, approximately 20% of total precipitation falls as snow (see Table 1). Table 1. Average annual precipitation for Moscow, Pullman and vicinity. Pullman Moscow Spokane Lewiston Avg. Ann. Precip. (in.) 21.5 23.5 16.1 12.8 Avg. Ann. Snowfall (in.) 28.5 49.5 41.8 15.8 Elevation (ft) 2,540 2,660 2,360 1,440 Mt. Baker, 56 mi. east of Bellingham, WA, with an elevation of 4,200 ft, recorded a world record total snowfall of 1,140 inches (95 ft) for the 1998–99 season. Its average annual snowfall is 645 inches (54 ft), the highest average value in North America. Importance of the Study of Snow Hydrology – Flood forecasting – Reservoir management – Water supply and irrigation design – Hydrologic modeling of watershed processes (surface runoff, streamflow, sediment transport, nutrient transport, depth of frozen soil) – General design (highways, culverts) – Safety and recreation (avalanche warnings, ski and road conditions forecast) 1 BSYSE 456/556 Lecture 4 General Composition and Characteristics Snow is a granular porous medium consisting of ice and pore spaces. When it is cold (temperature below 0 EC), the pore spaces contain only air (including water vapor). At the melting point, the pore spaces can contain liquid water and air, and snow becomes a three-phase system. In most practical applications, the actual depth of the snowpack is not as important as the depth of the snow water equivalent (SWE) of the snowpack (1) where hs = height of snowpack ρs = density of snow ρw = density of water Note that snowpack density may change with time and snow density within a snowpack changes with depth. In the later section on snow properties, we will revisit the term SWE. The density of snow is typically measured with a weighing snow gage. The density of snowpack changes due to rainfall, settling, metamorphism due to temperature and vapor gradients. Snowpack density will vary between 0.15 g cm!3 for new pack and 0.45 g cm!3 for a melting pack. The density of new fallen snow is determined by the configuration of the snowflakes, which is largely a function of air temperature, the degree of super-saturation in the precipitating cloud, and the wind speed at the surface of deposition. Because of the difficulty of measuring the density of new snow, an average density of 0.10 g cm!3 is often assumed. Since the density of water is 1 g cm!3, a rule of thumb is that, for new fallen snow, the SWE depth will be roughly 10% of the actually measured snow depth. In other words, 10 inches of snow is equivalent to 1 inch of water. Snowpack Metamorphism 1. Gravitational settling (rate) ! increases with overlying snow weight and the temperature of the layer ! decreases with the layer’s density 2. Destructive metamorphism ! vapor pressures higher over more curved surface, causing the points and projections of snowflakes to evaporate and deposit on nearby less convex surfaces, thus forming larger, more spherical snow grains ! The process occurs most rapidly in recently fallen snowflakes and ceases when the snow density becomes high (~ 0.25 g cm!3) 3. Constructive metamorphism ! most important pre-melt densification process ! Over short distances: the process occurring by sintering (water molecules deposit in concavities where snow grains touch and gradually build a “neck” between adjacent grains ! Over long distances: the process occurring via vapor transfer due to temperature gradients ! “Depth hoar”: forming when very cold air overlying a shallow snowpack produces an upward-decreasing temperature and vapor pressure gradient, and snow near the base evaporates 2 BSYSE 456/556 Lecture 4 resulting in a basal layer of planar crystals with low density and strength 4. Melt metamorphism ! densification by liquid water (from surface melting or as rainfall) and formation of solid ice ! disappearance of smaller snow grains and growth of larger grains All processes except the temporary “depth hoar” increase the snow density through the snow- accumulation season. Snowmelt Processes 1. Accumulation period: the period of general increase of snowpack water equivalent prior to the melt period 2. Melt period: the period when the net energy input to a snowpack becomes more or less continually positive, including three phases: (1) Warming: during which the average snowpack temperature increases until the snowpack is isothermal at 0 EC (2) Ripening: during which melting occurs but the melt water is retained in the snowpack that is isothermal at 0 EC until it cannot retain any more liquid water and is said to be ripe (3) Output: during which further energy inputs produce water output Field Measurement Snowfall measurement ! Standard method: ruler ! Universal gage: recording weight increase ! Radar: distinguish rain and snow; delineate the areal extent Snowcover measurement ! Snow stakes or rulers ! Snow survey via a snow course ! Snow pillows: made of rubber containing liquid with low freezing point; measuring pressure ! Radioactive gages: recording the attenuation of gamma rays or neutrons by water ! Microwave: measuring the areal extent Snowmelt measurement ! Lysimeters: collect the water draining from the overlying snow and then measure the flow Snow Properties Let us consider a representative portion of a snowpack of height hs and area A. Using the symbols M to designate mass, V for volume, h for height, and ρ for mass density; and the subscripts s for snow, i for ice, w for liquid water, m for water substance, a for air; we can derive the following relationships. The snow volume is (2) 3 BSYSE 456/556 Lecture 4 Fig. 1. Dimension of a representative portion of a snowpack. A is the area of the upper surface; hs is the snow depth. [Adapted from Dingman (2002, Fig. 5-1).] The porosity, φ, is defined as the ratio of pore volume to total volume (3) Therefore, (4) The liquid water content, θ, is defined as the ratio of the volume of liquid water in the snowpack to the total volume of snow: (5) Snow density, ρs, is defined as the mass per unit volume of snow, so (6) Combining Eq 3!6 allows us to relate density, liquid water content, and porosity as or (7) !3 !3 where ρi = 917 kg m and ρw = 1,000 kg m . As we mentioned earlier, for the hydrologist, the most important property of a snowpack is the SWE, 4 BSYSE 456/556 Lecture 4 often expressed as the depth of water that would result from the complete melting of the snow in place, hm. Thus, (8) where Vm is the volume of water resulting from the complete melting of the snow with the same surface area of A, and it is related to the volume of water and ice following (9) (Why?) Substituting Eq 4 and 5 into Eq 9 yields (10) Using Eq 2 and 8 to rewrite Eq 10 and dividing both sides by A gives (11) Finally, we see from Eq 7 that Eq 11 can be written as (12) (Why?) Note that this is the same equation as Eq 1. Do you have another way deriving it? Snowmelt Period Energy Needs 1. Warming phase !2 The cold content, Qcc (of dimension [E L ]), of a snowpack is the amount of energy required to raise its average temperature to the melting point, and (13) !1 !1 where ci is the heat capacity of ice (2,102 J kg K ), Ts is the average temperature of the snowpack, Tm is the melting-point temperature (273.15 K) , and the other symbols are as previously defined. The cold content can be computed at any time prior to the ripening phase, and the net energy input required to complete phase 1, Qm1, equals the cold content at the beginning of the melt period. 2. Ripening phase The liquid water retaining capacity, hwret, of a snowpack, is given as 5 BSYSE 456/556 Lecture 4 (14) and, the net energy input required to complete the ripening phase, Qm2, can be computed as (15) !1 where λf is the latent heat of fusion (0.334 MJ kg ). (Define ; understand Eq 14 by visualizing a snowpack) 3. Output phase The net energy input required to complete the output phase, Qm3, is the amount of energy needed to melt the snow remaining at the end of the ripening phase: (16) The total energy need is the sum of the energy inputs for each melt phase. (17) Snowmelt Modeling over a Watershed To accurately model the snow distribution and snowmelt over a large watershed with extensive differences in elevation and topography, information on spatially distributed air temperature and precipitation and other physical settings (e.g., soil type, geology, land use, ground cover) should be used.

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